Reports indicate one fatality and widespread power outages in southern Japan as a powerful typhoon approaches, bringing strong winds and heavy rain.
Hundreds of flights to Okinawa and other islands in the area have been canceled, leaving thousands of tourists stranded in the region’s tropical beach resorts.
Typhoon Khanun, characterized as “very strong” by the Japanese weather agency, is accompanied by sustained winds of 180 kilometers per hour (112 miles per hour).
Okinawa’s power company reports that 220,580 households, accounting for nearly 35 percent of the region’s total, are without electricity as of Wednesday morning.
An evacuation warning has been issued for Okinawa and the southern part of the Kagoshima region, urging over 690,000 residents to seek safety, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
The agency has reported 11 individuals with mild injuries in Okinawa.
A 90-year-old man died after being trapped under a collapsed garage on Tuesday evening, with strong winds being the likely cause, according to public broadcaster NHK.
The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued warnings for flooding and landslides in some parts of Okinawa’s main island.
The typhoon is currently about 70 kilometers south of Okinawa’s remote Kumejima island as of 2300 GMT, moving in a west-northwest direction, as reported by the JMA.
It is expected to continue west-northwest and eventually reach eastern China later in the week.
M ore than 400 flights have been canceled, affecting over 65,000 passengers, according to NHK.
On Tuesday, tourists at the main Naha airport faced long queues in hopes of returning home.
“We haven’t been able to secure a hotel and we don’t know when we can book a return flight,” said Minako Kawakami to the local daily Okinawa Times.
© 2023 AFP
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Typhoon knocks out power in southern Japan (2023, August 2)
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